This plate shows foot warriors of the North-Western Indian region in the great Kushan epoch, as depicted in the famous sculptural art of Gandhara.

Much of the armour and equipment of Gandhara seems to have been inspired by the Yüeh-chih/Kushan newcomers,
who in turn had adopted much of it in the Central Asian regions including Bactria. For examples see our Fig. 41c-f.
Also especially illustrative are the materials adduced by M V Gorelik in his paper on Kushan armour (Gorelik M. V., 1982, pls 4-12).
For further examples see any or all of:

Many Gandharan works of art of the period under consideration show scenes from the life of Buddha,
including his flight from the royal palace (whence the female guards in our picture are derived) and his confrontation with the forces of the evil Mara,
which have provided some of the details on our foot warriors, in particular the shield decorated with a monstrous face (7D).
The accusation might therefore be levelled that this is really only a 'fantasy' shield but it is highly probable that such devices could still adorn the shields of actual warriors.